Texas Lacrosse Drop: Thanks, MCLA, D1 Expansion, And Dynasty?

Editor’s Note: Josh “Chewy” Acut is super involved with the Texas Lacrosse scene, and he’s got a fantastic update for us on what’s been going down in the Lone Star State as of late. It’s enough information to create a Texas Sized Lacrosse Drop! Josh is giving thanks, talking college (and dropping some HUGE news for Houston!), and exposing a Powell like dynasty in Texas!

Giving Thanks

First off, before I get into anything else, I want to personally thank a couple of organizations for helping Coach Mary Mattia and the Highlands HS Boys Lacrosse Team:

Coach Doug Campbell and the Reagan Lacrosse Club out of San Antonio, Coach Mike Brand and the Texas State Lacrosse Team, Coach Collin Guy and the St. Mary’s Hall Lacrosse Team, and David Hamill of the New Horizons Lacrosse organization out of Austin, TX.

These gents and their organizations donated equipment, funds, and their time and effort to help Mary and her team. They understand what it takes, and also have their own challenges, but when it needed to done, they gave to someone else. They gave to another group of kids. They are true GTG’ers. They honor the tradition of the game and help to continue those traditions by helping the next generation to play lacrosse.

Their support and efforts will pay off when Highlands steps on the field this Saturday versus the Smithson Valley Lacrosse Club. As many of you know, I coached Smithson Valley last year, and for both these teams to start off the year against each other shows the true growth of the game in Texas.

To Mary and the players at Highlands HS Lacrosse… what you have done so far, what you will do on Saturday, and your work throughout the rest of the season will be one of the greatest stories you will ever be able to talk about. Congrats on all your hard work!

College Lacrosse News

Now onto the MCLA ranks in Texas. Mike Brand and the Texas State Lacrosse Team faced off against Baylor on Saturday night (1/26). In his first season opener at TX State, Coach Brand and company set the stage for the year with a pretty dominating win over Baylor, 15-3. I have played in a club tourney versus the Baylor guys this past Fall, and they were good.

Baylor was also very classy and athletic, but the transition from Fall to Spring can be like night and day, and even though I didn’t attend the game, according to the tweets from 412LAX, it sounded like Texas State came out of the gates with nitrous oxide strapped to their backs and that Baylor just could not keep up. Mike Brand has come to Texas State… hope the rest of the MCLA is ready!

Baylor had a game the very next day in San Antonio versus the UTSA Lacrosse Team. And just like that Baylor bounced back with a great win over UTSA, 12-10. I played against the UTSA team as well in a club tourney this Fall and yes, they are good, but I have a feeling that the Baylor team was ready to avenge the loss from the night before. That and the Fall games, in my opinion showed a Baylor program that was more synergistic than the UTSA team I had faced.

With all that being said, I think it is time to formally re-introduce the world to the University of Houston Lacrosse Team. After over a 5 year hiatus, the Coogs are back! MCLAFan will have an official interview, but for now, I wanted to ask Coach Justin Rich a couple of questions:

Justin Rich is currently the President of the Pabst Blue Ribbon Lacrosse family of teams: PBR, PBR Light, and Lonestar lacrosse teams. There is no doubt that in Texas, and probably beyond our borders, we can be deemed a pretty legit entity with the Club ranks. The PBR Family is good, definitely one of the premier programs within the South. So I was compelled to ask him why add University of Houston lacrosse to his plate?

UH is my alma mater and I love both the University and lacrosse. Houston deserves to have a lacrosse team on campus. It’s my contribution back to something I believe in… I bleed Cougar red, so why not?

I then asked him about a tweet that was posted during the Texas State/ Baylor game:

Tweet from @4OneTwoLax: “After watching this game… LSA is the worst conference in the league.”

I asked Justin for a response on the comment, and this is what I got:

Practice what you preach… grow the game, don’t hate on it.

And then I asked the most important question of all: Are you (University of Houston) planning to ever go NCAA?

Per the AD, it is in the University’s master plan… With the move to the Big East, UH is having to look at how to be competitive amongst those schools.

#BOOM!!!! The University of Houston has a PLAN to add D1 men’s lacrosse. WOW!

Here’s a couple peeks at what U of H has in the works for this season!

And now for the last part of the Texas Lacrosse Buffet!

A Powell Dynasty… In Texas?!?

OK, so that statement is a pretty bold one, and there are probably 100’s of brother trios that play lacrosse, but I haven’t heard of many in Texas… And I swear if you met these kids you’d see how the comparison is justified.

The Chubb Brothers: Garrett, Ben, and Brady. Yes, there are three of them, just like The Powells (EN: tethnically, there are way more than three Powells). Yes, they all play lacrosse, just like the Powells. But what is crazy is that from Eldest to Youngest, they somewhat mimic the personality traits in the same order as The Powells, or at least they do from what I have seen on Youtube and Facebook.

Garrett, the oldest, is a Senior in high school and is a great lacrosse player. He might not be the flashiest, but his mastery of the fundamentals is second to no one. His ability to rally the troops and lead the team is amazing for a young man who is just in High School. I had the pleasure of coaching Garrett last year, and this young man is one of the premier lacrosse players in my area, and was voted an All State Midfielder for the San Antonio district, and one of only three juniors to receive those honors.

He played under Doug Campbell and Reagan lacrosse when he first entered the high school ranks, and will finish under the coaching of Wes Carrera and as one of the original members of the Smithson Valley Lacrosse Club. At a preseason clinic, some kids from the local college were calling him “Johnny Football” after Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M, but make no mistake… Before there was “Johnny Football” from College Station, there was Garrett Chubb from Smithson Valley Lacrosse.

Next is Ben Chubb, the Ryan Powell of the Chubb Family. His skill level is right on par with Garrett, but him being a Sophomore in HS adds a sense of light heartedness as well as young buck mentality. He too is a good leader, but presents himself as “just one of the guys”. He might be the “middle-child”, but make no mistake, he doesn’t see that as a bad thing. He definitely respects his older brother, but just like Garrett said in my interview with him, they are more like best friends in addition to being brothers.

Ben’s style of play is a little more direct. He is quick on the transition and has quickly learned that an offensive threat is one that can score and pass. The best thing about Ben is that his positive attitude is one that he doesn’t bottle up, it’s almost infectious.

Now on to Brady Chubb. The youngest of the Chubb Bros., but definitely not lacking in lax skills by any means. This kid is fast, and agile off the dodge, his stick skills are ALWAYS improving, and he has a true natural sense of the game, very similar to Mikey Powell. It seems that he has learned from his brothers, perfected their technique, and then added his own flavor to it. He’s a free spirited and fiery young buck that definitely has that flare. He does not have the stereotypical “Lax-Bro” attitude you see in kids his age. He is more of a sponge and always learning, always respecting the traditions of the game.

If you put Chazz Woodson and Mikey Powell into a four foot nothing, 85 lbs when wet, laxer… You’d get Brady. He’s so good, I saw him play up (he was in 6th grade) versus 8th graders in an invitational last year, and he dodged on 8th graders like they we on roller skates. Shoot, he’s so good that I’ll admit he got the ball away from me last year in the Coaches versus Players game.

He’s fun to watch and his antics outside the game are hilarious! I can’t wait to see this kid play when the season starts. When I hinted on Twitter that the next Mikey Powell was in Texas… I tell you now that I was not joking. Even Garrett will admit, “He’s gonna be beast in High School”. Now I’ll finish with this… You’re probably reading this, saying there is no way they are like the Powell Bros. and my answer to that is, “What if they are?”

Obviously I think they have the potential, because I took my time to write about it. Carthage wasn’t exactly regarded as a hot spot before the Powell clan… so maybe Smithson is next!

3 Comments

Yes CW, I know there are more than three Powells, but it sounded cooler to have three brothers “featured” on each side. It’s kind of like the Three Muskateers… there are way more, but only three get movie rights. HAHAHA! There is so much more coming out of South Texas, more HS team info, more MCLA news, and more individual player bios!